The story of Eleanora- The worst road trip ever
November 10th, 2014 part 2-We were so devastated. I just wanted to go home, so we decided not to
leave for Wisconsin. I texted my sister Olivia to tell her that *surprise* I had
been pregnant, but wasn't having a baby. I told her all about my
appointments and the spotting. Jared called his sister and told her. We were so upset.
We talked about just staying home all weekend, but Olivia said that she thought it
would be better for me to be home with my Mom (who had experienced a
miscarriage) to help me through everything.
I decided that she was right- if Jared and I stayed home all weekend, we would probably just wallow in our sadness and if we went on with our weekend plans it would help us to be distracted a bit. We got up early on the 24th and began driving to Wisconsin. I planned out how I would tell my family the sad news. About 3 hours into our 7 hour trip, my phone rang. It was the midwife.
She told me that my HCG levels were at 53,000, and since they were still doubling, I wasn't experiencing a miscarriage or a blighted ovum. She said that she was very concerned that it was an ectopic pregnancy. I explained that we were almost halfway to our destination. She said that she would call in an order for an ultrasound at the hospital in my hometown, but that I needed to find the nearest ER immediately if I experienced any cramping or bleeding in the next few hours. To make matters worse, she told me that I was "an accident waiting to happen".
By this point I was, of course, a complete basket case. I sobbed and stupidly spent the remaining 4 hours of our road trip on Google. I learned that an ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg begins growing outside of the uterus (usually in a fallopian tube). If the fallopian tube ruptures, it causes internal bleeding and because of that, it is the leading cause of maternal death in first trimester pregnancies. If they catch it before it ruptures, they can perform a surgery to remove the embryo, but it is difficult to preserve the fallopian tube. So in a list of things that could go wrong: our baby would not survive, I could lose one of my fallopian tubes, or I could die from internal bleeding
All I could picture was going into a surgery to have my baby removed and what our lives would look like afterwards. Would I lose a fallopian tube? Would I ever be able to get pregnant again? Would Jared be okay if I died? All I could think was worst case scenario. I decided that I had to call my family and let them know what was happening. I was crying so hard, my dad didn't even know who I was. I asked to talk to mom and as he handed her the phone, he said, "It's one of your daughters...and it isn't good." My parents, who both knew that we were driving up to Wisconsin, both thought for sure we had been in a fatal car accident when they realized it was my voice sobbing hysterically into the phone.
A few hours later, my mom and sister Mindy met us at the hospital in my hometown. I quickly changed into a hospital gown and followed the ultrasound tech into a dark room. She explained to Jared, my mom, and I that she would send the results to a radiologist, who would contact my midwife, who would then call me with the results. I was frustrated, briefly explained the situation, and said, "Can't an OB do the ultrasound and just tell me right away what's going on?!" But she said we would just take a look. As soon as the put the wand on my stomach, we could all see a baby with a little flickering heartbeat! The tech said, "I'm really not supposed to tell you anything, but there it is. There's the heartbeat, and it is in your uterus."
I was SO EXCITED. I said, "WHAT?!" I looked at Jared and said, "What the heck is wrong with them? I had THREE ultrasounds yesterday and they saw nothing?!"
She performed very thorough abdominal and vaginal ultrasounds. She said the heartbeat was 124 BPM and that I was measuring 6 weeks 5 days pregnant. We walked back to the waiting room where I told Mindy the news and we hugged and cried happy, relieved tears. A few minutes later, the midwife called me with the results from the radiologist. All she said was, "You must be so relieved! Call if you have any questions!" She gave no apology for putting me through such a roller coaster.
I can't believe that I'm pregnant. And everything is going to be okay. The baby is where it's supposed to be- in my uterus! Although this wasn't exactly the way that I had envisioned telling my family that we were expecting our first baby.
Tonight we are going to a meet-and-greet at a different Birthing Center run by midwives, but located in a hospital and only 20 minutes away. It just opened in September. I hope it fits us, because we are not going back to that other birthing center!
It's been really fun telling our families and close friends over the past couple weeks. I have been feeling nauseous almost everyday for weeks. Not actually puking, just off and on queasiness. And so so tired all the time. Nothing too terrible though. Jared has been so wonderful. Seriously amazing. Yesterday, I sent him for cheesecake and pickles. I ate the entire jar of pickles already! We got the ultrasound bill for $1000...The ignorant midwives should have to pay it. Honestly, we are just so happy that everything is okay now.
I decided that she was right- if Jared and I stayed home all weekend, we would probably just wallow in our sadness and if we went on with our weekend plans it would help us to be distracted a bit. We got up early on the 24th and began driving to Wisconsin. I planned out how I would tell my family the sad news. About 3 hours into our 7 hour trip, my phone rang. It was the midwife.
She told me that my HCG levels were at 53,000, and since they were still doubling, I wasn't experiencing a miscarriage or a blighted ovum. She said that she was very concerned that it was an ectopic pregnancy. I explained that we were almost halfway to our destination. She said that she would call in an order for an ultrasound at the hospital in my hometown, but that I needed to find the nearest ER immediately if I experienced any cramping or bleeding in the next few hours. To make matters worse, she told me that I was "an accident waiting to happen".
By this point I was, of course, a complete basket case. I sobbed and stupidly spent the remaining 4 hours of our road trip on Google. I learned that an ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg begins growing outside of the uterus (usually in a fallopian tube). If the fallopian tube ruptures, it causes internal bleeding and because of that, it is the leading cause of maternal death in first trimester pregnancies. If they catch it before it ruptures, they can perform a surgery to remove the embryo, but it is difficult to preserve the fallopian tube. So in a list of things that could go wrong: our baby would not survive, I could lose one of my fallopian tubes, or I could die from internal bleeding
All I could picture was going into a surgery to have my baby removed and what our lives would look like afterwards. Would I lose a fallopian tube? Would I ever be able to get pregnant again? Would Jared be okay if I died? All I could think was worst case scenario. I decided that I had to call my family and let them know what was happening. I was crying so hard, my dad didn't even know who I was. I asked to talk to mom and as he handed her the phone, he said, "It's one of your daughters...and it isn't good." My parents, who both knew that we were driving up to Wisconsin, both thought for sure we had been in a fatal car accident when they realized it was my voice sobbing hysterically into the phone.
A few hours later, my mom and sister Mindy met us at the hospital in my hometown. I quickly changed into a hospital gown and followed the ultrasound tech into a dark room. She explained to Jared, my mom, and I that she would send the results to a radiologist, who would contact my midwife, who would then call me with the results. I was frustrated, briefly explained the situation, and said, "Can't an OB do the ultrasound and just tell me right away what's going on?!" But she said we would just take a look. As soon as the put the wand on my stomach, we could all see a baby with a little flickering heartbeat! The tech said, "I'm really not supposed to tell you anything, but there it is. There's the heartbeat, and it is in your uterus."
I was SO EXCITED. I said, "WHAT?!" I looked at Jared and said, "What the heck is wrong with them? I had THREE ultrasounds yesterday and they saw nothing?!"
She performed very thorough abdominal and vaginal ultrasounds. She said the heartbeat was 124 BPM and that I was measuring 6 weeks 5 days pregnant. We walked back to the waiting room where I told Mindy the news and we hugged and cried happy, relieved tears. A few minutes later, the midwife called me with the results from the radiologist. All she said was, "You must be so relieved! Call if you have any questions!" She gave no apology for putting me through such a roller coaster.
I can't believe that I'm pregnant. And everything is going to be okay. The baby is where it's supposed to be- in my uterus! Although this wasn't exactly the way that I had envisioned telling my family that we were expecting our first baby.
Tonight we are going to a meet-and-greet at a different Birthing Center run by midwives, but located in a hospital and only 20 minutes away. It just opened in September. I hope it fits us, because we are not going back to that other birthing center!
It's been really fun telling our families and close friends over the past couple weeks. I have been feeling nauseous almost everyday for weeks. Not actually puking, just off and on queasiness. And so so tired all the time. Nothing too terrible though. Jared has been so wonderful. Seriously amazing. Yesterday, I sent him for cheesecake and pickles. I ate the entire jar of pickles already! We got the ultrasound bill for $1000...The ignorant midwives should have to pay it. Honestly, we are just so happy that everything is okay now.
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